America’s Cup plan: Big yachts yield to bay views

San Francisco — Oversize private yachts won’t be able to line up along San Francisco’s Embarcadero during the 2013 America’s Cup after all.

Eager to defuse a controversy that began with a report in The Chronicle this summer, city officials and organizers of the high-profile regatta said Friday afternoon that they no longer seek to build a floating dock in the open water along Rincon Park, south of the Ferry Building. That dock would have been large enough to berth 26 spectator vessels, ranging in length from 100 to 250 feet.

The new plan calls for some of the so-called super-yachts to moor on the north edge of the basin along Pier 14. Others would drop anchor at Pier 9, or near Pier 36.

“We restructured the plans to be a little more thoughtful about where these vessels might be located” during the regatta, said Michael Martin, the city’s point person for planning related to the expansive event. “People have raised concerns about still being able to enjoy open views of the bay.”

The announcement was welcomed by the executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which must approve any changes to public access along the bay. The commission is scheduled to meet on Nov. 3 to review the proposed use of the open basins, and it has raised concerns about the encroachments sought by the America’s Cup Event Authority.

“This is what we wanted them to do,” Executive Director Will Travis said Friday. “We will live with this.”

Lining up permits

In the fast-moving effort to line up the permits necessary to make the northeast waterfront the home base for the famed regatta, the fate of the open water along Rincon Park has been one of the few rough spots.

Unlike other portions of the waterfront that would be pressed into action for the 2013 event, the quarter-mile between Piers 14 and 22 1/2 wouldn’t be reserved for racing crews or support functions. Instead, the city and the organizers earmarked it for use by spectator yachts arriving in town during the summer of 2013 for an event that in the past has attracted seafaring high rollers from around the world.

Nor are these yachts the sort seen in a typical marina. Images filed this summer with the regatta’s draft environmental impact report show a line of 26 yachts, none shorter than 100 feet. By contrast, the largest commuter ferries on the bay are 165 feet long.

Preserving views

The prospect of a public park walled off for the better part of the summer is what concerned the BCDC.

“This is the one area along the (downtown) San Francisco waterfront where you have a public park on the water, expressly designed with sweeping views of the open bay and the Bay Bridge,” Travis said, adding that the space will be even more important in 2013 as “a little bit of respite” during the regatta, which is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of onlookers to the city shoreline on race days.

In a statement Friday, Mayor Ed Lee described the shift as an effort “to refine our plans … in a way that balances the excitement of the races with the picturesque Bay views that are so important to our residents and visitors.”

Future marina feasible

One thing that hasn’t changed: the agreement between the city and the event authority still allows race organizers to negotiate for the right to build a permanent commercial marina at Rincon Park after the regatta is finished. That option also exists for the open basin between Piers 32 and 36.

However, Martin stressed that the right to negotiate is not the same as a formal approval – especially since any change of that magnitude must be blessed at some point by the BCDC. Nor is it part of current negotiations.

“It’s not going to be a rubber stamp,” Martin said.

Securing approvals

Changes to the open basins are not the only permit issues involved with the 2013 America’s Cup. According to Martin, the current timetable is to try to secure all necessary approvals by the end of January.

As for the shift of super-yacht berths toward Pier 32 – where racing teams will have their bases – Stephanie Martin of the Event Authority said their presence will only add to the bayside bustle that will be marketed as part of the regatta’s appeal.

“There’s a huge interest in that pit-row feeling, where people can see boats being worked on, and brought in and out of the water,” she said.